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Now showing 1 - 10 of 17
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    Semi-Interpenetrating Polymer Networks Based on N-isopropylacrylamide and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane Sulfonic Acid for Intramolecular Force-Compensated Sensors
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2021) Binder, Simon; Zschoche, Stefan; Voit, Brigitte; Gerlach, Gerald
    Stimulus-responsive hydrogels are swellable polymers that take up a specific volume depending on a measured variable present in solution. Hydrogel-based chemical sensors make use of this ability by converting the resulting swelling pressure, which depends on the measured variable, into an electrical value. Due to the tedious swelling processes, the measuring method of intramolecular force compensation is used to suppress these swelling processes and, thus, significantly increase the sensor's response time. However, intramolecular force compensation requires a bisensitive hydrogel. In addition to the sensitivity of the measured variable the gel has to provide a second sensitivity for intrinsic compensation of the swelling pressure. At the same time, this hydrogel has to meet further requirements, e.g. high compressive strength. Until now, interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) have been used for such a force-compensatory effective hydrogel, which are complex to manufacture. In order to significantly simplify the sensor design and production, a simpler synthesis of the bisensitive hydrogel is desirable. This paper presents a new bisensitive hydrogel based on semi-interpenetrating polymer networks. It is based on a copolymer network consisting of N-isopropylacrylamide (NiPAAm) and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and long PAMPS strands that permeate it. Measurements show, that this hydrogel meets all essential requirements for intramolecular force compensation and is at the same time much easier to synthesize than previously used IPN hydrogels. © 2021 The Author(s).
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    The influence of partial replacement of Cu with Ga on the corrosion behavior of Ti40Zr10Cu36PD14 metallic glasses
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2019) Wei, Qi; Gostin, Petre Flaviu; Addison, Owen; Reed, Daniel; Calin, Mariana; Bera, Supriya; Ramasamy, Parthiban; Davenport, Alison
    TiZrCuPdGa metallic glasses are under consideration for small dental biomedical implants. There is interest in replacing some of the Cu with Ga to improve the glass-forming ability and biocompatibility. Ti40Zr10Cu36-xPd14Gax (x = 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 at.%) metallic glasses in rod and ribbon forms were fabricated by mould casting and melt spinning, respectively, and electrochemically tested in a 0.9wt.% NaCl (0.154 M) solution. It has been shown that for both rod and ribbon samples Ga levels up to 8% have no significant effect on passive current density, pitting potential or cathodic reactivity in 0.9% NaCl at 37°C. Different pitting potential and corrosion potential values were found when ribbon and rod samples of the same composition were compared for all compositions apart from the one containing the highest Ga level (10%). This was attributed to structural relaxation occurring as a result of the slower cooling rates during casting rods compared with melt-spinning ribbons. Substitution of Ga for Cu in these metallic glasses therefore expected to have no significant effect on corrosion susceptibility. © The Author(s) 2019.
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    Modeling Polycrystalline Electrode-electrolyte Interfaces: The Differential Capacitance
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2020) Müller, Rüdiger; Fuhrmann, Jürgen; Landstorfer, Manuel
    We present and analyze a model for polycrystalline electrode surfaces based on an improved continuum model that takes finite ion size and solvation into account. The numerical simulation of finite size facet patterns allows to study two limiting cases: While for facet size diameter dfacet →0 we get the typical capacitance of a spatially homogeneous but possible amorphous or liquid surface, in the limit 1[nm] < dfacet, an ensemble of non-interacting single crystal surfaces is approached. Already for moderate size of the facet diameters, the capacitance is remarkably well approximated by the classical approach of adding the single crystal capacities of the contributing facets weighted by their respective surface fraction. As a consequence, the potential of zero charge is not necessarily attained at a local minimum of capacitance, but might be located at a local capacitance maximum instead. Moreover, the results show that surface roughness can be accurately taken into account by multiplication of the ideally flat polycrystalline surface capacitance with a single factor. In particular, we find that the influence of the actual geometry of the facet pattern in negligible and our theory opens the way to a stochastic description of complex real polycrystal surfaces. © 2020 The Author(s). Published on behalf of The Electrochemical Society by IOP Publishing Limited.
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    A discussion of the cell voltage during discharge of an intercalation electrode for various C-rates based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics and numerical simulations
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2020) Landstorfer, Manuel
    In this work we discuss the modeling procedure and validation of a non-porous intercalation half-cell during galvanostatic discharge. The modeling is based on continuum thermodynamics with non-equilibrium processes in the active intercalation particle, the electrolyte, and the common interface where the intercalation reaction Li+ + e- ↔ Li occurs. The model is in detail investigated and discussed in terms of scalings of the non-equilibrium parameters, i.e. the diffusion coefficients DA and DE of the active phase and the electrolyte, conductivity sA and sE of both phases, and the exchange current density e0L, with numerical solutions of the underlying PDE system. The current density i as well as all non-equilibrium parameters are scaled s with respect to the 1-C current density iC A of the intercalation electrode. We compute then numerically the cell voltage E as function of the capacity Q and the C-rate Ch. Within a hierarchy of approximations we provide computations of E(Q) for various scalings of the diffusion coefficients, the conductivities and the exchange current density. For the later we provide finally a discussion for possible concentration dependencies. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by ECS.
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    On the Impact of Strained PECVD Nitride Layers on Oxide Precipitate Nucleation in Silicon
    (Pennington, NJ : ECS, 2019) Kissinger, G.; Kot, D.; Costina, I.; Lisker, M.
    PECVD nitride layers with different layer stress ranging from about 315 MPa to −1735 MPa were deposited on silicon wafers with similar concentration of interstitial oxygen. After a thermal treatment consisting of nucleation at 650°C for 4 h or 8 h followed annealing 780°C 3 h + 1000°C 16 h in nitrogen, the profiles of the oxide precipitate density were investigated. The binding states of hydrogen in the layers was investigated by FTIR. There is a clear effect of the layer stress on oxide precipitate nucleation. The higher the compressive layer stress is the higher is a BMD peak below the front surface. If the nitride layer is removed after the nucleation anneal the BMD peak below the front surface becomes lower. It is possible to model the BMD peak below the surface by vacancy in-diffusion from the silicon/nitride interface. With increasing duration of the nucleation anneal the vacancy injection from the silicon/nitride interface decreases and with increasing compressive layer stress it increases. © The Author(s) 2019.
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    S-wave seismic imaging of near-surface sediments using tailored processing strategies
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2020) Burschil, Thomas; Buness, Hermann
    Reflection seismic imaging using horizontally-polarized S-waves (SH) can increase resolution and it could be cost-efficient compared to the common use of P-waves. However, since S-wave application often delivers varying data quality, appropriate processing schemes are required for particular imaging and interpretation purposes. In this paper, we present four tailored processing strategies that are applied to SH-wave data acquired in an overdeepened Quaternary basin in the Alpine foreland, the Tannwald Basin. The applied processing schemes consist of (1) processing using a short automatic gain control window that enhances structural details and highlights small-scale structures, (2) offset restriction indicating that relative small offsets are sufficient for adequate imaging, which offers reduced field operation costs, (3) coherency-enhancement that reveals large-scale structures for interpretation, and (4) adapted amplitude scaling that enables structural comparison of P-wave and S-wave seismic sections. With respect to P-wave data measured on the same profile, we demonstrate the benefits of the S-wave seismic reflection method. P-waves offer robust imaging results, but S-waves double the resolution, better depict shallow reflections, and may image reflectors in areas where the P-wave struggles. At least for the Tannwald Basin, S-wave imaging is also more cost-efficient than P-wave imaging. © 2020 The Authors
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    The Effect of Boron Content on Wetting Kinetics in Si-B Alloy/h-BN System
    (New York, NY : Springer, 2019) Polkowski, Wojciech; Sobczak, Natalia; Bruzda, Grzegorz; Nowak, Rafał; Giuranno, Donatella; Kudyba, Artur; Polkowska, Adelajda; Pajor, Krzysztof; Kozieł, Tomasz; Kaban, Ivan
    In this work, the effect of boron content on the high-temperature wetting behavior in the Si-B alloy/h-BN systems was experimentally examined. For this reason, hypoeutectic, eutectic and hypereutectic Si-B alloys (Si-1B, Si-3.2B and Si-5.7B wt.%, respectively) were produced by electric arc melting method and then subjected to sessile drop/contact heating experiments with polycrystalline h-BN substrates, at temperatures up to 1750 °C. Similar to pure Si/h-BN system, wetting kinetics curves calculated on a basis of in situ recorded drop/substrate images point toward non-wetting behavior of all selected Si-B alloy/h-BN couples. The highest contact angle values of ~ 150° were obtained for hypoeutectic and eutectic Si-B alloys in the whole examined temperature range. © 2018, The Author(s).
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    High-Temperature Interaction of Liquid Gd with Y2O3
    (New York, NY : Springer, 2019) Turalska, P.; Sobczak, N.; Bruzda, G.; Kaban, I.; Mattern, N.
    The sessile drop method combined with contact heating procedure was applied for the investigation of high-temperature interaction between liquid Gd and Y2O3 substrate. Real-time behavior of Gd sample in flowing inert gas (Ar) atmosphere upon heating to and at temperature of 1362 °C was recorded using high-speed high-resolution CCD camera. The results evidenced that molten Gd wets Y2O3 substrate (the contact angle θ < 90°) immediately after melting of metal sample observed at T = 1324 °C (Tm = 1312 °C). During the first 3 min of the sessile drop test, the contact angle dropped from θ = 52° to θ = 24° and then stabilized at the final value of θf * = 33°. The solidified Gd/Y2O3 couple was subjected to structural characterization using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with x-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The results evidenced that the wettability in the Gd/Y2O3 system has a reactive nature and the leading mechanism of the interaction between liquid Gd and Y2O3 is the dissolution of the ceramic in the liquid metal responsible for the formation of a deep crater in the substrate under the drop. Therefore, the final contact angle θf*, estimated from the side-view drop image, should be considered as an apparent value, compared to the more reliable value of θf = 70° measured on the cross section of the solidified couple. © 2019, The Author(s).
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    Non-invasive prospection techniques and direct push sensing as high-resolution validation tools in wetland geoarchaeology – Artificial water supply at a Carolingian canal in South Germany?
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2020) Rabiger-Völlmer, Johannes; Schmidt, Johannes; Linzen, Sven; Schneider, Michael; Werban, Ulrike; Dietrich, Peter; Wilken, Dennis; Wunderlich, Tina; Fediuk, Annika; Berg, Stefanie; Werther, Lukas; Zielhofer, Christoph
    The prospection of (geo-)archaeological sites yield important knowledge about the concept and the utilisation of pre-historical and historical infrastructure. The satisfactory conduction of classical prospection methods like archaeological excavations or geoarchaeological vibra-coring might be challenging in the case of large sites or difficult underground conditions. This is particularly problematic in wetlands featuring a high groundwater table and high compaction rates of organic layers. In this study, we provide an alternative and non- to minimal-invasive exploration approach to discover hydro-engineering structures for artificial water supply in the surrounding of a Carolingian summit canal in South Germany. The Early Medieval Fossa Carolina was intended 792/793 CE to bridge the Central European watershed between Rhine-Main and Danube catchments. As the canal was constructed as a summit canal, an artificial water supply at the highest levels seemed very likely or even obligatory. In order to explore these obligatory hydro-engineering features, we use a wide range of on-site and off-site tools in a spatial hierarchical way. Our approach includes the large-scale SQUID magnetic survey and the sighting of historical maps. Furthermore, we integrate high-resolution direct push colour logs, and subsequent vibra-coring for small-scale stratigraphical verification and sedimentological analyses. The SQUID magnetic survey and related depth models discover two pronounced linear anomalies that might represent potential artificial water inlets in the North-Eastern and Northern Sections of the canal. I) In the North-Eastern Section, direct push colour logs, vibra-coring and 14C dating provide no evidence for a Carolingian hydro-engineering feature but reveal a natural lenticular structure of Early Holocene age. II) The linear magnetic anomaly in the Northern Section can be excluded with high probability as a hydro-engineering structure as well. Here, direct push colour logs, vibra-coring, 14C dating and the comparison with a historic map reveal evidence for a historic gravel road. Thus, we have nicely verified the magnetic information but have no prove for an artificial Carolingian water inlet from the Swabian Rezat River that contradicts with assumptions of former studies. © 2020 The Authors
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    Non-remote reference noise cancellation - using reference data in the presence of surface-NMR signals
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2020) Müller-Petke, Mike
    Surface-NMR measurements commonly suffer from low signal-to-noise ratios. In recent years, with the introduction of multi-channel surface-NMR instruments, the technique of remote-reference noise cancellation (RNC) was developed and significantly improved the applicability of surface-NMR. The current formulation of RNC requires a reference loop to be placed a remote distance from the transmitter loop such that no NMR signal is recorded. Reference loops placed at non-remote distances have been envisaged to provide both improved noise cancellation performance and field efficiency; however, the concept has not been previously applied because the theoretical framework was missing. In this paper, the theoretical framework is presented. It is demonstrated that reference loops placed at non-remote distances provide superior noise cancellation performance. Considerations for placing the reference loop relative to the transmitter loop are provided, and the theoretical framework is evaluated based on a semi-synthetic example using real field noise and synthetic surface-NMR data. © 2020